Tunisia vs France: Tunisia failed to advance to the Round of 16 of the World Cup despite its famous win against the defending champions, France.
The 1-0 win against France gave the Tunisian side three points and moved them into third place, but it was enough to make them qualify with Australia finishing with four points and France with six points.
The North African side dominated the match and broke the dreadlock in the 58th minute after an excellent goal from Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri.
The player went through the France defense and slid the ball beneath the France goalkeeper’s Steve Mandanda’s leg.
However, France only threatened the North African side after Kylian Mbappe was introduced and Antonio Griezmann scored a 90+7 minute goal, but it was ruled out by VAR for offside in the buildup.
The goal put Tunisia initially in the second position, and they were looking forward to qualifying for the round of 16 for the first time in the world.
However, this was cut short after Australia scored against Denmark and moved to the second position, putting the North African team in the third position.
Key Stats In France vs Tunisia
In their last four World Cup games, Tunisia has triumphed twice, defeating France in this game and Panama in 2018. They have already won one more game than they did in their first 14 games overall in the competition.
It has only happened three times in the history of the World Cup that the defending champions lost to African opponents; two of those three times happened when France was the host nation:
Cameroon defeated Argentina 1-0 in 1990, Senegal defeated France 1-0 in 2002, and Tunisia defeated France 1-0 in 2022.
After just three games, France has used 24 different players in the 2022 World Cup because the team’s key players are injured.
It is already the most different players a side has used in a single tournament in World Cup history.
What Next For France and Tunisia
France have already qualified for the Round of 16 and will patiently wait for the outcome of the World Cup Group C results to know who they face next.
France ended the group stage matches as group winners, and they face the runners-up in group C.
If Argentina wins, they will finish as group leaders and face Australia in the next round. Also, if Saudi Arabia defeats Mexico, they are likely to face France in the next round of the tournament.
However, if Poland wins, they are likely to face Australia, and if Mexico wins, they are likely to face France in the Round of 16.
On the other hand, Tunisia will return home to prepare to play against Libya on March 20, 2023 for the Africa Nations Cup qualifiers.
